Sophie Feijer and other girls are dressed in traditional attire as they celebrate the opening of the Dutch parliament at The Hague.

Lasses of the lowlands:

Sophie Feijer and other girls are dressed in traditional attire as they celebrate the opening of the Dutch parliament at The Hague.

Photo: Peter Dejong, Associated Press

Lasses of the lowlands: Sophie Feijer and other girls are dressed... Photo-5198258.70347 - StamfordAdvocate

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National Guard to the rescue:

Staff Sgt. Jose Pantoja, a flight medic with the Colorado Air National Guard, rides with an unidentified evacuee
up a hoist onto a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during flood rescue operations near Boulder, Colo. Military
helicopter crews have flown hundreds of missions up the treacherous canyons of the Rocky Mountains to rescue
more than 2,000 people, and to drop food and water supplies to stranded hamlets.

An ultra-Orthodox Jew examines a hadas (myrtle branch) - one of the four items used as a symbol on the
Jewish holiday of Sukkot - for blemishes at a store in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood. He must make sure it
is ritually acceptable before purchasing it.

: Carmelo Flores, a native Aymara, holds a medal given to
him by the governor of La Paz in recognition of his longevity inside his home in the village of Frasquia,
Bolivia. If Bolivia's public records are correct, Flores is the oldest living person ever documented: He turned
123 in July. Bolivia's President Evo Morales visited Flores, bearing gifts that included a microwave oven, a
television and bedspreads.

Visitors get acquainted with a turkey at The Gentle Barn near Santa Clarita, Calif. The sanctuary is home to 170 rescued animals, of whom many were severely abused and mistreated.

Tom's new friends:

Visitors get acquainted with a turkey at The Gentle Barn near Santa Clarita, Calif. The sanctuary is home to 170 rescued animals, of whom many were severely abused and mistreated.

Photo: Joe Klamar, AFP/Getty Images

Tom's new friends: Visitors get acquainted with a turkey at... Photo-5198305.70347 - StamfordAdvocate

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A few laps around the pool:

Huxley the yellow lab gives his owner, Eric Smith, some sloppy licks during the Doggy
Dip at the H-E-B Pool in Corpus Christi, Texas.

A few laps around the pool:

Huxley the yellow lab gives his owner, Eric Smith, some sloppy licks during the Doggy Dip at the H-E-B Pool in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Photo: Michael Zamora, Associated Press

A few laps around the pool: Huxley the yellow lab gives his... Photo-5198307.70347 - StamfordAdvocate

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Taboola Gallery Frame Item-85307.70347 - StamfordAdvocate

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You never know when you'll need the cavalry in 2013:

Dutch cavalrymen gallop through colored smoke
during drills at the beach of Scheveningen, Netherlands. The eighty horsemen were practicing for "any possible
emergency" during Tuesday's Prinsjesdag ceremony, marking the opening of the Dutch parliament.

You never know when you'll need the cavalry in 2013: Dutch... Photo-5196189.70347 - StamfordAdvocate

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Watching from the sidelines:

Evacuees affected by a stand-off between Philippine government forces and Muslim rebels in Zamboanga wait out
the conflict in wooden boats used as temporary living quarters. Philippine troops were clearing out the last
remaining pockets of Muslim rebels after an operation in the south that killed dozens of militants and
allowed scores of hostages to flee.